An Air India flight has tragically crashed shortly after takeoff, with officials confirming the deaths of 241 people. Only one man has survived the horrific accident, making it one of the deadliest aircraft disasters in the last decade.
On Thursday afternoon, flight 171 from Ahmedabad to London went down just moments after leaving the tarmac. Almost immediately, a mayday call was set to local aviation authorities. After reaching a height of 160 metres, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner started to come down, crashing five minutes after departure and killing 229 passengers and 12 crew members.
People on the ground at the time are believed to have died, with the plane hitting a hostel for doctors.
The only surviving passenger is believed to be 40-year-old British national, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who was returning to his home in the UK after visiting family in India. He was swiftly taken to the hospital after the incident. According to Dr. Rajnish Patel, head of surgery at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, he is in a “not very critical” condition.
From his hospital bed, Ramesh spoke to the Hindustan Times.
“Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed,” he said.
“It all happened so quickly. When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me. Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital.”
It is believed that Ramesh’s brother was also on the flight.
At this stage, authorities are still not sure why the plane crashed and are currently searching to find the aircraft’s black box to decipher what happened.
Meanwhile, India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau have launched a formal investigation into the tragic incident, with a team from the US National Transportation Safety Board being sent over to assist.
Speaking to the ABC, aviation expert Guy Hirst referred to the crash as “a one-in-a-million chance that a series of events has led to a really sad, sad outcome”.
Hopefully there will be answers for the families who have lost loved ones soon.
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